On Thursday, the Jays defeated the Tigers 7-3 at Comerica Park to end the mini-road trip 13 games above .500. They’ll now host the St. Louis Cardinals and recognize the Rogers Centre’s 25th anniversary on the weekend.

The Jays have won five games in a row, 14 of the last 16 and are 24-7 in the last 31 games, moving from a season low of four games under .500 to a season-high of 13 above. Included in that stretch is a sweep at home of the Oakland A’s, the team with the best record in the league, and now of the AL Central-leading Tigers. The Jays are 6-0-1 in the last seven series.

“Maybe we’re a good team,” manager John Gibbons said. “We’re sure playing like it. It makes it fun to go to the ballpark. These guys are feeling it out there and confidence is half the battle.”

And it’s not just the recognizable names, the big guys, that are getting the job done for the Jays. In the series-ending matinee, reliever Chad Jenkins, in his fourth time around with the team in the first three months, and catcher Erik Kratz, in his third stint in the majors in 2014, both were key.

Kratz, the personal catcher for starter and winner J.A. Happ, stroked a go-ahead two-run single in the fourth, while Jenkins entered for Happ with a runner on in the seventh, induced a quick double-play ball, then went on to record seven outs before handing the ball to Casey Janssen for the save.

“It’s always nice to get to throw,” Jenkins said. “I knew what was going on (with Janssen coming in for the final out) and that’s perfectly fine. He’s our closer and if it’s a save situation, I expect him to have the ball. I couldn’t get the job done, he came in, threw one pitch and here we are.”

It seems with this club that players understand their roles more than at any time in recent memory. And when the role players have a chance, as happened Thursday with Edwin Encarnacion sidelined by a sore back, those players, more often than not, do contribute. Kratz played a backup role with the Phillies last year and at the age of 33 with just 150 MLB games, knows how good that feels.

“It brings the clubhouse together,” Kratz suggested. “Sometimes when there’s bullpen guys that don’t play, when there’s bench guys that don’t play, maybe don’t contribute, maybe they feel like they’re not as much part of the team. The starters feel pressure to get it done every time and there could be animosity there if it doesn’t happen. That doesn’t happen here.

“Everybody’s pulling for everybody because everybody’s doing well. Everybody expects if I don’t do it or if they’re not pitching to me, I take my base and the next guy can go. That’s how we fight teams — with 25 guys, not just the nine that are out on the field.”

The Tigers jumped on top by two in the third inning. Following a leadoff double by Nick Castellanos, Andrew Romine moved him to third with a grounder, then Ian Kinsler looped a flyball onto the foul line in left. Melky Cabrera attempted a shoestring catch, but overran it as the ball landed softly. Kinsler ended up with a triple. Torii Hunter cashed him with a sacrifice fly.

The Jays bounced back immediately in the fourth, scoring three to take the lead. Jose Bautista lofted a flyball to right-centre field, with centre fielder Austin Jackson looking to the more senior Hunter, who was looking to the centre fielder to take charge. The ball clanged off Hunter’s stab for a two-base error. After Adam Lind singled and Brett Lawrie walked to load the bases, Dioner Navarro floated a single to left in front of J.D. Martinez and Kratz cashed a pair for the lead.

The Tigers briefly tied the game in the fifth, as Kinsler scored Alex Avila from third base with a groundout. But then Justin Verlander, who is clearly not the same Verlander of old, walked Lind and gave up back-to-back home runs to Juan Francisco and Lawrie. The consecutive homers were the fifth time it happened for the Jays this season and the fourth time in 14 games, since May 22.

When Verlander was done after seven innings, it meant that the classy right-hander had allowed 28 runs in his last five starts over 32 innings. Meanwhile, Happ recorded his third quality start of the season to run his record to 5-2, going 6.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. He handed the ball to Jenkins with one out and a runner on in the seventh.

“That’s a great team over there,” Happ said. “It’s good. We’ve just got to try to come to the park every day and battle. It seems to be that guys have got great approach. Pitchers, we’re just trying to keep them in the game and we feel we’ll have a good chance.”

On Friday, it’s rookie Marcus Stroman starting against the Cardinals in the first of three games on the 25th anniversary celebration of the Rogers Centre, which opened on June 5, 1989. To put things in perspective, the building is two years older than is the starting pitcher Stroman.